It’s touted as the “toughest test of man and machine.”

Four hundred laps around the 1.5-mile quad-oval Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina—the 66th running of the Coca-Cola 600 over Memorial Day weekend will be the longest race of the season and it comes at the midpoint of the 36-race NASCAR Cup Series schedule.

And pacing behind the pit road barrier—clad with his Toyota-branded cap, headset and sunglasses—will likely be the 84-year-old owner of Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), who himself has four race cars (#s 11, 19, 20 and 54) competing for the same checkered flag.

In a lot of ways, Joe Gibbs’ Hall of Fame career as a NASCAR team owner embodies the challenges of a 600-mile stock car race, which is more of a marathon than a sprint—a test of strategy, perseverance and endurance, all at an average speed of 160 miles per hour.

Gibbs’ meteoric rise to become the third-winningest team owner in the sport’s 77-year history, despite only launching his race team from “a dream on a sheet of paper” in 1992, is unrivaled. 

In only their second year in the sport, JGR won the 1993 Daytona 500—NASCAR’s crown jewel—with Dale Jarrett in the driver’s seat and Gibbs’ oldest son, J.D., working on the pit crew as a tire changer.

By early April, JGR had collected 219 NASCAR Cup Series wins among nearly a dozen different drivers, as well as 200-plus Xfinity Series wins and more than 40 ARCA Menards Series victories.

Five times, he has hoisted the NASCAR Cup Championship trophy as a team owner with drivers Bobby Labonte (2000), Tony Stewart (2002, 2005) and Kyle Busch (2015, 2019). JGR has also claimed four Xfinity Series titles in 2009, 2016, 2021 and 2022 which included Gibbs’ grandson, Ty, in the driver’s seat.  

But Gibbs’ trailblazing success in motorsports has not come without some stop-in-your tracks setbacks. In a span of less than four years, both of his sons—his only children—died less than a year before their 50th birthdays.

J.D. had cofounded the family race team while his dad finished his first stint as the Washington Redskins’ head football coach. He also served as JGR’s president for years, even while being diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease. J.D. battled the ailment for five years before succumbing to the illness on Jan. 11, 2019. 

Then on Nov. 6, 2022, Gibbs’ second son, Coy—who was vice chairman of JGR and had served on his dad’s staff during his second stint as the Redskins’ head coach in the early 2000s—died in his sleep just hours after his son, Ty, won the Xfinity Series Championship, NASCAR’s second-tier racing circuit.

“It is the most excruciating heartbreak, I believe, that a parent can experience,” Gibbs says. “But thankfully, my sons had given their lives to Christ at an early age. So, I’m looking forward to spending eternity with them. The Bible says that our life here on Earth is so short compared to God’s eternal glory. So, I get to be with an all-knowing, all-powerful and all-loving God who has saved me and my boys.” 

Shortly after J.D.’s death, Gibbs says, he sensed God’s presence in a remarkable way when JGR’s Denny Hamlin drove the #11 FedEx Express Toyota to Victory Lane in the Daytona 500 in February 2019. 

On lap 170, Hamlin took his first lead in the race. On the car’s roof was written the name J.D. Gibbs. Once in the front of the pack of race cars, the clean air flowing through the #11 car—which was J.D.’s high school and college football jersey number—propelled the engine’s power to showcase its dominating speed on the track. Hamlin crossed the finish line in first place while JGR teammates Kyle Busch and Erik Jones finished second and third respectively. It was the first time since 1997 that teammates finished first, second and third in the Daytona 500.

“I think God’s hand was on the race,” Gibbs said in a post-race interview. “Most people, myself included, believe that J.D. had the best seat in the house. It was the greatest victory I’ve been a part of. We hope that it honored the Lord with everything that took place there.”

The Mocksville, North Carolina, native and grandfather of eight admits that he still doesn’t understand why his two sons’ time on Earth had to end before his. Nevertheless, he has an indescribable peace in knowing that he will see them again when he joins them in Heaven. 

“I’m confident in knowing where I’m going, and I know where my boys are,” he says. 

Gibbs cites Psalm 139:16 for why he believes that his sons lived the exact number of days that God had purposed and planned for them. “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

And even though Gibbs and his wife of nearly 60 years, Pat, still grieve their children’s deaths, they hold on to the truth of God’s Word in Romans 8:16-18: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” 

Gibbs achieved the pinnacle of success as a three-time Super Bowl champion head coach in the NFL before fulfilling his sons’ request to become a NASCAR team owner. In his New York Times bestseller, Game Plan for Life, Gibbs writes: “Whether it’s NASCAR, the NFL, or life, when you’re playing to win, you have a game plan. If you’re serious about winning, nothing—I mean nothing—is left to chance.”

His trademark painstaking preparation has proven to be a winning formula throughout his career. He’s also remained equally passionate about helping people make sure that they too are prepared for a glorious eternity in Heaven. That’s why he’s poured his life into prison ministry and programs to help troubled youth discover God’s purpose for their lives. 

“The best decision I ever made was asking Christ to come into my life at 9 years old,” Gibbs says. “I wanted to be on Jesus’ team, and I asked Him to forgive me of my sins and be my Lord and personal Savior. That is the most important decision anyone can ever make because it helps direct every other decision you make in life.” 

And while JGR won five of the first eight races this season—qualifying drivers Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin for the playoffs by early April— Gibbs’ competitive drive is eclipsed only by his passion for evangelism. 

“Once we’ve given our life to Christ, He empowers us to be a witness and a testimony for Him,” he says. “No matter what your walk is in life, there’s people that you’re around, and whether it’s family, whether it’s friends, whether it’s business partners or teammates, then people are going to be looking at you if you’ve given your life to Christ. And I think the way you live and your testimony can be a part of bringing people closer to making that decision to follow Christ.” ©2025 BGEA

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.

Read more about Joe Gibbs’ faith journey and others in Sundays At The Track—Inspiring True Stories of Faith, Leadership and Determination From The World of NASCAR, available at Ruth’s Attic Bookstore or online at: bookstore.billygraham.org/sundays-at-the-track.html.

Joe Gibbs encourages JGR driver Christopher Bell who won three consecutive races over the first tow months of the 2025 season. Photo: Chris Graythen / ©2024 Getty Images